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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23271169">A Thousand Ugly Faces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini'>Tortellini</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Kidnapping, Bittersweet, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Kidnapping, M/M, Post-Canon, Prompt Fic, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Wordcount: 500-1.000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:01:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>645</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23271169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Damen and Laurent are ruling together and in marital bliss when something goes drastically wrong.</p><p>Oneshot</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Thousand Ugly Faces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreams43/gifts">Dreams43</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So much time had passed by now. It was a few months since the Regent had been apprehended, and Kastor had been killed, and--Damen felt like it had been a lifetime ago. He woke up a lot of days with a heavy sense of exhaustion, equal only to a heavy sense of relief at the fact that all of the battles were finally over. He had Laurent with him, in his arms, which was all he wanted for such a long time--and now he felt like he didn't have to worry anymore. </p><p>He rolled over...but the other side of the bed was empty. </p><p>For a moment panic gripped Damen--something raw and animalistic, something akin to the time he'd been on the battlefield. Just not knowing where Laurent was made his stomach twist. He sat up, looked around, and--his eyes landed on him then.</p><p>Laurent's back was to him. Sun shone gently down through the open window and onto his golden hair. A little breeze blew into the room. </p><p>Damen smiled. And then he went back to sleep.</p>
<hr/><p>The days passed lazy and easy with only a few obligations to do. Mornings were made up of sex, evenings of conversation and dinner just the two of them and more sex. This was what they should've been doing for a long time now, Damen thought to himself. </p><p>"A letter for you, you excellency," Jord murmured one day, tired eyes twinkling. Damen grinned back at him. </p><p>"You know you don't have to call me that."</p><p>"Hey, you're the king, you and Laurent," he said with a modest shrug. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Laurent in a few hours actually. Probably in the gardens. Damen rolled his eyes but he was already opening up the letter. </p><p>...and then the color drained out of Damen's face.</p>
<hr/><p>The man simply known for a long time as The Regent of Vere was a despicable man. One of the most noticeable things about him was the fact that he was a pedophile. No little boy was safe, not even his own nephew. And that's something that had scarred Laurent for years to come.</p><p>Damen had vowed to kill the man who did that to his partner. And now, now that he'd gotten a letter asking for a ransom in exchange for Laurent, in whatever condition he left him in...</p><p>He was running on autopilot.</p>
<hr/><hr/><p>
  <em>Three Months Later</em>
</p><p>Laurent of Vere considered himself to be a strong person. He'd been through a lot in his life, maybe even more than the average person, and all things considered he'd come out better on the other side. Now though? This was a time in his life he wished he could forget. </p><p>He'd been with his uncle for the past two months. Two months away from his partner. Two months of--degradation, of assault, of the things he'd had to say and do as a little kid and blocked out as soon as he could. Laurent had been found by his partner and honestly? He was a shell of who he used to be. </p><p>"He'll be all right," Jord had said in a hushed voice two days after Laurent had been brought back. "It's going to take time, but--he will be."</p><p>Laurent flinched at touch. He was as much angry as he was frightened, and reacted as much. Sometimes he woke up screaming. Sometimes, on really really bad nights, he would wake up with silent tears running down his cheeks, and he'd stay like that for what felt like hours. </p><p>But when Laurent woke up a month in...and his cheeks were dry and his voice wasn't hoarse? And even more than that: he had his forehead resting against the middle of Damen's back like old times?</p><p>That was when Damen really did know everything would be okay. </p>
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